Shake-Up Behind The Scenes At THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Josh Griffith Out As Head Writer. Shelly Altman & Jean Passanante Co-Head Writers (Updated)

According to Highlight Hollywood, after days of posting cryptic messages on his Facebook page, friends of THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS head writer Josh Griffith say that he's really disillusioned and wants to move on to more fulfilling things.

That would mean getting away from Jill Farren Phelps, who he hailed as Y&R’s savior when the two landed in their top perches at CBS TV City, after being such great allies at Sony’s HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS.

“Josh [Griffith] was very uncaring and tacky when he did his interview with TV Guide soon after his former boss’s contract was not renewed, now it’s funny, he’s facing the same fate, and at the hands of the same woman, Jill Firing Phelps. He did not see it coming!

“Even though Josh is at work in the building today, he’s just a wreck. He’s previously had his door locked, and seemed as though he was having a breakdown, and Jill has been so uncaring, and telling everyone, she doesn't time to coddle people, and she is pressuring Sony execs to fire Griffith.”

Highlight Hollywood spoke with a Sony insider on Friday who reported Griffith "has less than 15-days left on his contract. He’s starting vacation with his family next week, and Sony would ideally like to let it look like his decision after a vacation that he’s ready to move on. They are in talks with several writers right now, because after he returns from his vacation, there are only 6 days left on his contract,” the Sony Pictures insider said.

UPDATE #1:
According to Highlight Hollywood, head writer Josh Griffith has resigned from the show, E-mailing his team that he was leaving due to irreconcilable differences.

A source tells Soaps In Depth that veteran soap writer Shelly Altman, co-head writer on the current Y&R team, will move into the position. (Altman's previous positions include posts at ANOTHER WORLD, GENERAL HOSPITAL and ONE LIFE TO LIVE.) SID hears Altman's co-head writer could either be former AS THE WORLD TURNS head scribe Jean Passanante (currently on the GH team) or Tracy Thompson, another Y&R staff writer.

UPDATE #2:Daytime Confidential is reporting that "GENERAL HOSPITAL breakdown writer Jean Passanante will co-head write THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS with Shelly Altman."

For nearly three decades Y&R was the one daytime soap opera that seemed immune from the constant backstage upheaval with rotating writers and producers that chipped away at the foundations of so many beloved shows. The past decade has not been kind to the legacy of the #1 Daytime Drama. Let's hope this latest change is a step in the right direction. But keep reading our "Today in Soap History" column every day because there is much to be learned from the past.

No, they can start with the grim reaper of soaps--Jill Farren Phelps who somehow got hired as Y&R's executive producer How this evil, yes incredibly inept woman keeps getting jobs boggles the mind. The fans hate her, the actors hate her, the writers hate her and the crew hates her. She is ruining Y&R--get rid of her before it's too late.

The show is so boring it needs a change. At least when Maria Bell was in charge the stories moved at a faster pace and not at a snails pace. I like more character development and emotional stories but they don't have to take 100 hundred years to tell them. Watch Y&R is akin to taking Valium. A big snooze fest.

Why in the hell doesn't CBS, Sony have someone that was nurtured by in writing & producing Bill Bell being offered to helm this show to get it back in shape? JFP needs to be fired along with JG now that he's left the building! This is pathetic on Sony & CBS part as if they are scared by it would give YR a boost in ratings and return it to capable hands? No neither party wants to the massive mistake all those years ago by hiring LML and she changed the course. What we viewers are seeing isn't YR but a new soap using Bill's name to keep viewers watching...AMcD, JFP, SK are all IDIOTS if they think YR is great soap opera....it's nothing but agenda full players that don't care about viewers but their own cronies and to keep those employed and the hell with quality!

The Neil and Lily stories puts me to sleep. How many times are Sharon and Nick then Billy and Victoria break up then get back together? Show needs to get Ashley back ASAP and keep Jill around. I would love to see Adam leave for the farm in Kansas taking Chelsea and her family with him. The current EP fired so many of the veterans on GH when she was there almost succeeding in getting show cancelled. My fear is she will work same magic now she is at Y&R

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS WITH ALL THE MIXED UP STORY LINES ON YOUNG AND RESTLESS!!! REALLY SHARON SHOULD BE LOCKED AWAY SHE IS VERY MENTAL. AND WHAT IS WITH FAITH, YOU HAVE TAKEN A VERY LOVING CHILD AND TURNED HER INTO EVIL, LEAVE THAT STORY LINE GO. AND REALLY NICK IS THE FATHER OF SUMMER, LET US GET THAT ONE OUT REAL QUICK, NOT NEEDED TO TAKE HER LIFE AND COMPLICATE IT EVEN MORE. GET BACK TO LOVE AND ROMANCE AND FAMILY. I THINK YOU ALL NEED A SWIFT KICK TO START UP WRITING GOOD MATERIAL AGAIN. PLEASE TRY, YOU HAVE A LOT OF GOOD ACTORS WORKING FOR YOU.

Jean passanante hasn't written a single good story in her entire career. Has yet to raise ratings at any show she's written at. Yet somehow still gets work over and over as a head writer. I don't get it. I just don't get it. * sigh *

I don't get it either Alex. Why can't TPTB look outside of the small cluster of soap writers and soap showrunners? Why must they pick from the same corroding heap of mediocrity??

If only ABC/Disney, Sony, PGP, et al. would've done a better job of reaching out to the Professional Writing Programs/Schools to apprentice to the likes of Bell, Marland, Nixon and the Dobsons while they were still actively writing? Then at least there would've been a bigger pool of talent to draw on, instead of the same incestuous branch of the Daytime Drama Tree.

Daytime shows should have done what Prime-time did and have Writers, Directors and Producers Programs that worked with the Colleges, Universities and independent Theater, Film and TV programs. As a graduate of a well known writing Program, I can honestly say that there was no such attempt to find talented writers and directing students to apprentice to these Production Companies in Daytime.Plenty of opportunities missed. Therefore we have the merry go round of stale stories and the same situations over and over.

Except for the new web iterations of AMC/OLTL, it seems no one is attempting to tell stories from a truly fresh perspective.

I really hate how they destroyed Sharon's character. I always loved Nick and Sharon together--they belong together. But not this way. they have tainted that with her devious actions to get back with him. I don't see how her character recovers from this.